US President Joe Biden’s administration is considering further restrictions on China’s access to chip technology used for artificial intelligence (AI), targeting new hardware that is only now making its way into the market, people familiar with the matter said.
The measures being discussed would limit China’s ability to use a cutting-edge chip architecture known as gate all-around (GAA), which is supposed to make semiconductors more powerful and is currently being introduced by chipmakers, the people said.
It is unclear when officials would make a final decision, the people said, adding that they are still determining the scope of a potential rule.
Photo: Reuters
The US’ goal is to make it harder for China to assemble the sophisticated computing systems needed to build and operate AI models, and to cordon off still-nascent technology before it is commercialized, they said.
Companies such as Nvidia Corp, Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc — along with manufacturing partners Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co — are looking to start mass-producing semiconductors with the GAA design within the next year.
A spokesperson for the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, which oversees export controls, declined to comment.
The bureau recently sent a draft GAA rule to what is known as a technical advisory committee, some of the people said.
The panel is composed of industry experts and offers advice on specific technical parameters — a final step in the regulatory process.
However, the rule is not yet finalized, after industry officials criticized the first version as overly broad, the people said.
One person familiar with the matter said the measures would not go as far as an outright ban on GAA chip exports, but instead focus on the technology needed to make them.
There are also early-stage discussions about limiting exports of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, some of the people said.
HBM semiconductors, made by SK Hynix Inc, Micron Technology Inc and others, speed up access to memory, helping bolster AI accelerators. They are used to train AI software — a process that involves bombarding models with information.
It is unclear whether a rule on HBM chips could come together, the people said, adding that the GAA conversation is further along.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.2 and NT$0.3 per liter respectively, after international crude oil prices increased last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week snapped a two-week losing streak as the geopolitical situation between Russia and Ukraine turned increasingly tense, CPC said in a statement. News that some oil production facilities in Alberta, Canada, were shut down due to wildfires and that US-Iran nuclear talks made no progress also helped push oil prices to a significant weekly gain, Formosa said
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,
RSS